Question

To find 456 - 212, Cardel added 4 to each number, then subtracted. Malia subtracted 2 from each number, then subtracted. Will Cardel's way, Malia's way, or both ways find the correct answer? Try both ways and show your work. Explain why each way works or does not work. Then, find the difference.

Answer 1

Cardel's and Malia's methods both resulted in the correct subtractive difference, but this is not usually the case. This happened because they added and subtracted equal amounts from both numbers, which maintains the difference between them.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's try both ways. First, Cardel's way: Cardel added 4 to each number before subtracting, so he calculated 460 - 216 = 244. Now let's try Malia's way: Malia subtracted 2 from each number, so she calculated 454 - 210 = 244. Both methods resulted in the same difference. However, the true answer to the question 456 - 212 is actually 244, so both methods coincidentally yielded the correct answer but are not mathematically correct. This happened because both individuals added and subtracted the same amount from both numbers, which maintained the difference between the two numbers, which is the true purpose of subtraction.

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